How much time will be spent in Africa, if very little or not at all and whether or not you hunt plains game only or the dangerous 7 can change this line up of course

Also, she does not hand load. And she can handle a 375 H& H, --recoil wise---- if the rifle is built to fit her

I have told her she needs to consider 3 rifles, with the "big Bore" being left at home when hunting everywhere but Africa or as stated above, if she only hunts plains game when there, we can remain at two rifles.

Anyway, please suggest two calibers ( or three--with the 375 and over possibly not needed or left at home when hunting everywhere but Africa ) ) AND what action you would use for a custom build for the calibers your suggesting.

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One from the list of (.308, 30-06, 7mmRemMag or .280 Ackley) and one from the list of (375 H&H, 416 Rigby or 404 Jeffries). Just got back from South Africa, and my .308 was plenty for all but the Dangerous 7.

With all but the Ackley, plenty of factory options, generally available in relevant locations, no handloading needed.

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One from the list of (.308, 30-06, 7mmRemMag or .480 Ackley) and one from the list of (375 H&H, 416 Rigby or 404 Jeffries). Just got back from South Africa, and my .308 was plenty for all but the Dangerous 7.

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If small game and dangerous game are not considerations and if ammo availability is a concern wherever this person may be hunting, I'd go with .308 Win and maybe .375 H&H. Perhaps .300 Win Mag would be enough for the big gun, though. If ammo availability is less of a concern, I'd look at newer cartridges like 6.5 Creedmoor and .300 PRC.

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As she is your friend I assume you already know her experiences with rifles, or is she new to it?
Surely she needs to shoot a few rifles of differing calibre before she goes down the really expensive route of a custom rifle build, are we talking by an English maker?
This could end being an expensive mistake, not something I would like to advise on, but of course I will take it off her hands, assuming she is, like you, based in Italy for a few hundred Euro's
Cheers
Richard

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Vikings guy. Congratulations on your Africa hunt, look forward to the write up. Yes I agree, it would be hard to beat the 308 or 30-06 and the 375 H & H or 404 Jeff

Harley, I actually suggested the 270 and 340 Weatherby as "the two", the 340 would IMHO be enough for DG even, but it would not be legal.

sticks mckinney--thank you yes I also wondered if she might want to go with some of the newer calibers, thank you It is good to see another 308, 375 recommendation

She is in the States and will have it built in the States. "Custom" does not need to translate into high dollars. The stock is the important feature in regards to "custom" for her and then, which caliber ? She does and has hunted the western U.S. and has her opinions but wanted to hear what others thought.

No one has made any 'action" suggestions. I know several who like the Rem and Savage, even a few more that like the Win 70 and Mauser, when building a custom rifle.

thank you

Greyman, we were typing at the same time---I agree! the 7 x 57 is a good one. I was even thinking about the 7 x 57 and 9.3 x 64 B------ thank you

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My two rifles to hunt everything stateside (largest being elk and no big bears) are .25/06 and .30/06. If wanting to go bigger a good option is .270 and .300 win mag. I don't have a lot of experience with actions but if weight is a consideration the Remington actually is inherently light. The Mauser and Model 70 are bombproof.

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Ben, you are not the first to suggest this to me. I have zero experience with the 300WSM, but have been told it does not feed as smoothly as the H & H in some platforms ?????? Any comments on this will be appreciated,

Preacher , those are certainly two good ones, but with those two one would need a third, 375 or larger

Nrpateo05---also good ones, but would need a third with those

We have put in inquires in search of one of the Blaser rifles that they make specifically for women, "IF" the "ladies" rifle that they make fits her, then this is also an option--two barrels, three-- . Euro-optic in Pa thanks there are two of them in Arizona.

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Ben, you are not the first to suggest this to me. I have zero experience with the 300WSM, but have been told it does not feed as smoothly as the H & H in some platforms ?????? Any comments on this will be appreciated,

Preacher , those are certainly two good ones, but with those two one would need a third, 375 or larger

Nrpateo05---also good ones, but would need a third with those

We have put in inquires in search of one of the Blaser rifles that they make specifically for women, "IF" the "ladies" rifle that they make fits her, then this is also an option--two barrels, three-- . Euro-optic in Pa thanks there are two of them in Arizona.

My son used a 300wsm on the Africa trip and it worked perfectly on plains game - he chose it because it was the rifle he had the most personal confidence with. The reason I left it off my list is that 300wsm and 300winmag are not necessary for non-dangerous game but are legally insufficient for dangerous game in many countries - a bit of a “tweeter” under Europe’s guidelines. FWIW, the PHs we worked with said they wished all the US guys that come over with the 300 magnums would just bring .308s - they don’t like the extra speed (not sure why but they seem to like slow bullets), they don’t like that most guys lose accuracy with magnums (their experience not my accusation) or they break them (which is tough on the PHs and the trackers who don’t traditionally wear ear protection).

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A 30-06 will kill anything on the earth, but so will a .223. The real question is how quickly will it kill a dangerous charging animal. When you have an animal that can kill you in a full on charge from an unexpected direction you will not get a double lung shot and 10 minutes to let the animal bleed out under a tree. You will get a rushed shot straight on and you may not get a second and the animal will have to be dropped on the spot. I would not hunt a Cape buffalo with a 30-06. Sure if I was 200 yards away with no chance of a charge and a planned broadside shot it will do the job, but I would have to get very lucky with shot placement in the charge situation. Much better to carry a 416 Rigby in that case.

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If limited to two rifles and if Africa is in the mix, I would go with the 375 H&H and 6.5 PRC. You could look at complete rifles or the action only from Montana Rifle Company. BTW, the 375 even works on klipspringers, I felt I was maybe a bit over-gunned, but when it's all you got it will work.

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We have put in inquires in search of one of the Blaser rifles that they make specifically for women, "IF" the "ladies" rifle that they make fits her, then this is also an option--two barrels, three-- . Euro-optic in Pa thanks there are two of them in Arizona.

You mean the Blaser Intuition, you can only get them in a wooden stock, but Blaser do a custom option, fancy engraving as well.
Nothing is cheap with a Blaser, take it from me, there is nothing 'cheap' about them, but they are very flexible, change the inserts, bolt face., barrel and you have in effect another rifle.
But, take them apart, put them back together and they are bang on zero.